World Literature Book Club: Weekly Discussions of Short Stories via West Valley Regional Library, LAPL – Online Event
This book club is a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (New York, 1995) ed. James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny. This month’s selections are:
December 5: A Telephone Call by Dorothy Parker
December 12: I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olson
December 19: Straight Pool by John O’Hara
Meetings are every Monday morning (excluding holidays).
For the Zoom link, please e-mail wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.
NOTE: See site for link. Repeats via Woodland Hills Branch Library at 2pm.
Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-9
Mystery Book Club: Sleep Well, My Lady via Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL – Online Zoom Event
This book club meets every first Monday of the month, and today will discuss the novel Sleep Well, My Lady, by Kwei Quartey. The author will be joining the discussion via Zoom!
In the follow-up to the acclaimed series debut The Missing American, PI Emma Djan investigates the death of a Ghanaian fashion icon and social media celebrity, Lady Araba.
Kwei Jones Quartey is a Ghanaian American detective fiction novelist and a retired physician. For about 20 years, while practicing medicine, he also worked as a writer. He balanced both activities by writing in the early mornings before going to his clinic.
Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer.
Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Library Reference Desk, or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.
Please call the branch at (818) 226-0017 or email woodln@lapl.org with any questions or for the Zoom link to the meeting.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: West Valley Regional Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/woodland-hills-mystery-book-club
Book Club Bonanza: Holiday Selection for Teens via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event
This book club for teens will celebrate the holidays voices by picking book(s) to read via hoopla.
December 05: Let’s meet and pick a cozy YA Fiction book to read this month via hoopla!
December 19: Join us for read-alikes and an activity on the book(s) chosen and the book discussion.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-holiday-season
Bilingual Book Club: The Story of My Teeth via Pico Union Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Bilingual Book Club will meet via Zoom to discuss Valeria Luiseli’s novel The Story of My Teeth.
This award-winning debut is an elegant, witty, exhilarating romp through the industrial suburbs of Mexico City and Luiselli’s own literary influences.
Valeria Luiselli was born in Mexico City in 1983 and grew up in South Africa. Her work has been translated into many languages and has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney’s.
NOTE: See site for link and details.
Where: Pico Union Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/bilingual-book-club-story-my-teeth
Samantha Cole, with Maitland Ward, & How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Samantha Cole, in conversation with Maitland Ward, will discuss her new book, How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex: An Unexpected Story.
The author argues that not only did sexuality vastly influence the Internet, but the Internet arguably changed modern human sexuality by giving every imaginable non-heteronormative community a place to explore, fantasize, thrive, and be accepted.
Porn is just one part of the story. Rather, this is a story about human nature during the digital gold rush of the last fifty years.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/samantha-cole
Richard Ellis, with Alice Shapely, & When Galaxies Were Born: The Quest for Cosmic Dawn at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Richard Ellis, in conversation with Professor Alice Shapely, will present and discuss his book When Galaxies Were Born: The Quest for Cosmic Dawn.
Richard Ellis takes readers inside the decades-long search for the first galaxies and the origin of starlight.
Astronomers are like time travelers, scanning the night sky for the outermost galaxies that first came into being when our universe was a mere fraction of its present age. When Galaxies Were Born is Richard Ellis’s firsthand account of how a pioneering generation of scientists harnessed the world’s largest telescopes to decipher the history of the universe and witness cosmic dawn, the time when starlight first bathed the cosmos and galaxies emerged from darkness.
Stunningly illustrated with a wealth of dramatic photos, When Galaxies Were Born is a bold scientific adventure enlivened by personal insights and anecdotes that enable readers to share in the thrill of discovery at the frontiers of astronomy.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/Richard-Ellis-in%20conversation-with-Professor-Alice-Shapley
Patti Smith: Songs and Stories & A Book of Days at ALOUD Reading Series – In-Person Event
Patti Smith, in conversation and performance, will discuss her new book, A Book of Days, chronicling her life through her Instagram posts.
In 2018, Patti Smith posted her first photo on Instagram: her hand with the simple message “Hello Everybody!” Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone which included portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat. Over time, a story of a life devoted to art took shape with more than a million followers responding to her unique and imaginative aesthetic. Smith will take the stage alone to discuss the book, her photographs, play several songs, and talk with the audience about her career.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Saban Theater
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm
Address: 8440 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Website: https://lfla.org/event/songs-and-stories/
Monday Night Fiction Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online Event
This free Monday Night Fiction Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a community writing workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.
Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Transnational Literatures at CSU Channel Islands. She has published poetry and nonfiction and done readings with the Ventura Poetry Project.
Where: Beyond Baroque – Online event
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Zoom Online (see site)
Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-477403164717
Under the Mic Influence & Open Mic featuring M’RELD GREEN – In-Person Event
Join host Kuahmel Alyeeus KuahAllah and DJ Kev Jam for poetry, Open Mic, rare grooves, cocktails, tasty bites. This will be the last Under the Mic Influence of the year.
M’RELD GREEN will be the featured artist! This talented wordsmith and poet serves as an advocate for change and is a founder of Herbal Balance.
M’RELD GREEN – The electric feature @mreldgreen in town with that Chicago raw sh!t. (Her new record is CRAZY!) Libations will of course ease your nerves and relax your mind! Come on in and do bring a friend!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, and details.
Where: LB Unified Bar & Lounge
Date: Monday the 5th
Time: 7:30 pm; Mic at 8 pm
Address: 2222 E. Anaheim, Long Beach, CA 90804
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/ or https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1790380934673784&set=a.383136428731582
Creative Writing Workshop with Tony DuShane at Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event
The Los Feliz Branch Library offers a 90-minute writer’s workshop with Tony DuShane.
This is a free event presented by UCLA instructor Tony DuShane, screenwriter of the film Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, based on his novel of the same name.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 1874 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-tony-dushane-12
Feminist Book Club: Funny in Farsi at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The Feminist Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, by Firoozeh Dumas.
In 1972, when she was seven, Firoozeh Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father’s glowing memories of his graduate school years here. More family soon followed, and the clan has been here ever since.
Above all, this is an unforgettable story of identity, discovery, and the power of family love. It is a book that will leave us all laughing—without an accent.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/feminist-book-club-funny-farsi
The Mic at Micky’s Open Mic, with Hosts Brian Sonia-Wallace & Nate Lovett at Micky’s Nightclub & Bar – In-Person Event
Join The Mic at Micky’s Open Mic and Literary Readings, hosted by West Hollywood Poet Laureate Brian Sonia-Wallace, Nate Lovett and Tony Moore.
This is a weekly event for creatives to collaborate and write something for the Mic and/or sign up for the Open Mic, limited to 3-5 minutes per person, and offering poems, stories and music.
Located in the heart of one of LA’s oldest gay clubs, this space promises connection and community for folks across the LGBTQ+ spectrum (and allies!) before the untz untz starts.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Micky’s Nightclub & Bar in West Hollywood (Upstairs)
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm
Address: 8857 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.mickys.com/tc-events/the-mic-at-mickys-dec-6th/
Bilingual Reading Group: Capital at Re/Arte Centro Literario – In-Person Event
The Bilingual Reading Group meets every other Tuesday and is reading and discussing Volume 1 of Capital by Karl Marx. The discussion is led by Dr. Jose Prado, PhD., Professor of Sociology at CSUDH.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Re Arte Centro Literario
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2123 E. Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Alex Kenna & What Meets the Eye: A Mystery at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Alex Kenna will present and discuss her book, What Meets the Eye: a Mystery.
This debut mystery is a pulse-pounding tapestry of secrets, retribution, and greed for fans of Jeffrey Archer.
Kate Myles was a promising Los Angeles police detective, until an accident and opioid addiction blew up her family and destroyed her career. Struggling to rebuild her life, Kate decides to try her hand at private detective work—but she gets much more than she bargained for when she takes on the case of a celebrated painter found dead in a downtown loft.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/alex-kenna
Lindsey Kelk with Alisha Rai, & Broken: The Christmas Wish at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Lindsey Kelk, in conversation with Alisha Rai, will discuss her book, The Christmas Wish.
Lindsey Kelk presents the paperback edition of her book The Christmas Wish, in which newly single lawyer Gwen Baker is hoping that a family Christmas—countryside, a mountain of food and festive films—will salve the sting of her career hanging by a thread and her heart being trampled on. Because everyone else has their life sorted: even Dev, her boy-next-door crush, is now a tall, dark, and handsome stranger with a fiancée. She can’t help wishing her future was clearer.
Then Gwen wakes up to discover it’s Christmas day all over again. Like Groundhog Day but with eggnog. And family arguments. On repeat.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
SOM Tuesdays Open Mic at Murphy’s Pub, Long Beach – In-Person Event
SOM Open Mic Tuesdays at Murphy’s Pub takes place in a casual setting in Long Beach. Come and share music, comedy, and poetry with SOM in its new venue!
Featured guest: Certified Zero.
Sign-ups at 6:30 pm.
Where: Murphy’s Pub
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7 pm – 10 am
Address: 4918 2nd St., Belmont Shore, Long Beach, CA 90803
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=451741673772586&set=a.393577686255652
The Virtual Cobalt Series & Open Mic with Chloe Martinez via Online Zoom Event
The Virtual Cobalt Poets Series, presented by Rick Lupert via Zoom, will feature an Open Reading and guest Chloe Maritnez.
Chloe Martinez is a poet and a scholar of South Asian religions. She is the author of the collection Ten Thousand Selves (The Word Works) and the chapbook Corner Shrine (Backbone Press). Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, POETRY, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Beloit Poetry Journal and elsewhere. She works at Claremont McKenna College. See more at http://www.chloeAVmartinez.com.
NOTE: Details and Zoom link at event link.
Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: http://poetrysuperhighway.com/cobalt/calendar.html
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show – In-Person Event
The Sunless Sea Open Mic: Poetry and Spoken Word Show is offered every week at the Unurban Coffee House. Hosted by DeForest Wright, all are invited to attend.
NOTE: Details at event link.
Where: Unurban Coffee House
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1699147113818899
Da Poetry Lounge Tuesday Open Mic at Greenway Court – In-Person Event
The nation’s largest weekly Open Mic event is 24 years strong. It takes place every Tuesday and is open to all ages. Third Tuesdays are SLAM NIGHTS! A slam is a poetry competition.
$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 p.m. Free parking adjacent to theatre.
See sites for details.
Where: Greenway Court Theatre and YouTube Live Stream
Date: Tuesday the 6th
Time: 9 pm – 11 pm
Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChLUBSRPCFb/ or https://www.dapoetrylounge.com/admission
Book Club Event at Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
The Chatsworth Branch Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.
This book is a hilarious Christmas tale, in which a couple struggling to put on a Christmas pageant and are faced with casting the inventively awful Herdman kids.
For information on how to attend virtually, email ctswrt@lapl.org.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chatsworth Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 1:30 pm
Address: 21052 Devonshire St., Chatsworth, CA 91311
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/chatsworth-library-book-club-0
History Book Club: Ukraine and Russia at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Event
The History Book Club will read and discuss this month’s selection, Ukraine and Russia, by Paul D’Anieri.
D’Anieri explores the dynamics within Ukraine, between Ukraine and Russia, and between Russia and the West, that emerged with the collapse of the Soviet Union and eventually led to war in 2014. Proceeding chronologically, this book shows how Ukraine’s separation from Russia in 1991, at the time called a ‘civilized divorce’, led to what many are now calling ‘a new Cold War’. He argues that the conflict has worsened because of three underlying factors – the security dilemma, the impact of democratization on geopolitics, and the incompatible goals of a post-Cold War Europe. Rather than a peaceful situation that was squandered, D’Anieri argues that these were deep-seated pre-existing disagreements that could not be bridged, with concerning implications for the resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., #30A, Riverside, CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/history-book-club-ukraine-and-russia
Be the Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop with Guest Host Gina Duran via LA Poet Society – Online Zoom Event
Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop is held on the first Wednesday of every month, and are all meetings are writing workshops about social justice topics, put on by James Coats and Sponsored by La Poet’s Society Press.
Guest host Gina Duran will lead this meeting, and we will consider how listening is one of the most important tolls in creating community and enabling communication.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information. Name your own price.
Where: LAPS Online Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10231434169744470&set=a.1185964856325
Rainbow Reads Book Club: Snapdragon by Kat Leyh at Once Upon a Time – In-Person Teen Event
The Rainbow Reads Book Club celebrates diversity in Young Adult books as we read books featuring various identities and stories. This is a safe space welcome to teens of all identities and allies! Join Iz and Apollo for our proud book club.
This month’s selection for discussion is Snapdragon, a graphic novel by Kat Leyh, in which main character Snapdragon stumbles into what she believes is the lair of the local evil witch—turns out the local witch is a fantastically chill, cool, older lady named Jacks who ends up taking Snapdragon on as her apprentice. Together they discover friendship, learn amazing new kinds of magic, and uncover age-old love stories that may yet be fulfilled.
Club participation requires purchase of featured title from Once Upon A Time and registration during checkout.
Best for ages 13 and up. Masks required.
This is a discussion-based club. Participants should come prepared to share their thoughts about that meeting’s book choice.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information. Limited space. No drop-ins.
Where: Once Upon a Time
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020
Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/rainbow-reads-book-club-snapdragon-kat-leyh
Jaguarx Feminist Collective Meeting, hosted by Viva Padilla at Re/Arte – In-Person Event
The Jaguarx Feminist Collective Meeting will be hosted at Re/Arte on Wednesdays from 6pm – 7:30pm.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information.
Where: Re/Arte Centro Literario
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Address: 2123 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 900
Website: https://reartela.com/events%2Feventos
Natalie Shapero, Meg Shevenock, Calvin Lee Reeder Poetry Reading + Music
Poets Natalie Shapero and Meg Shevenock will read from their work and Calvin Lee Reeder will play some folk!
Natalie Shapero is the author, most recently, of the poetry collection POPULAR LONGING. Her previous collections are HARD CHILD, shortlisted for the International Griffin Poetry Prize, and NO OBJECT, winner of the Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award. Natalie’s writing has appeared in The Nation, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, The New York Times Magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches at UC Irvine.
Meg Shevenock‘s debut poetry collection, The Miraculous, Sometimes, won the 2019 Marystina Santiestevan first book prize, judged by Bob Hicok for Conduit Books & Ephemera. Meg’s poems and essays have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Lana Turner, Best New Poets, Denver Quarterly, Smartish Pace, Tupelo Quarterly, and the Kenyon Review blog. She is a 2021 recipient of a writer’s grant from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and 2020 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award winner in Poetry. Meg is frequently “the reader” and researcher for visual artist Ann Hamilton. She teaches writing to gifted youth.
Calvin Lee Reeder is a filmmaker and musician originally from Seattle but has been marooned in Los Angeles for over a decade. His films have won awards at Sundance, AFI, and The Sarasota Film Festival. His music has done nothing like that. However, he did waste a good part of his youth touring extensively with art punk bands The Intelligence (In the Red Records) and Popular Shapes (On/On switch). As a solo act, he plays off-kilter folk songs that usually start in A minor- heck, they usually end there, too.
Where: Heavy Manners Library
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1200 North Alvarado Street Los Angeles, CA 90026
John M. Borack & The Beatles 100 at Page Against the Machine – In-Person Event
John M. Boarck will discuss and sign his book, The Beatles 100: One Hundred Moments in Beatles History.
John Borack has been a music journalist for more than thirty-five years, an avid fan of the Fab Four since childhood, and is a drummer in a Beatles cover band, Let it Be. So he’s more than qualified to offer his perspective on one of the most discussed, analyzed, and influential rock bands of all time! In 100 brief chapters, he discusses and ranks the greatest moments in Beatles history.
John M. Borack is a musician and veteran music journalist who currently serves as a contributing editor at Goldmine Magazine. He is the author of three previous books, Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide, John Lennon: Life Is What Happens, and Shake Some Action 2.0: a Guide to the Greatest Power Pop Albums 1970-2017.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information.
Where: Page Against the Machine
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90814
Book Launch: NDA An Autofiction Anthology & Guests at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
The book launch of NDA An Autofiction Anthology features: Aiden Arata, Chris Molnar, Stephen Van Dyck, Sammy Loren, Sarah Yanni, Molly Lambert, Sara Selevitch and Caitlin Forst
This is an exciting new anthology of autofiction from Archway Editions featuring a wide range of today’s best writers, both established and up-and-coming. The contributors in this anthology produce a contemporary, subversive primer of works engaging the relationship between the writer and the text.
NDA: An Autofiction Anthology collects subversive and contradictory interpretations of the hybrid genre known as autofiction from boundary-adverse avant-gardists, cult legends, and emerging internet talents. The contributions in this anthology redefine conceptions of autobiographical fiction to keep pace with the contemporary literary arts underground.
A companion to Stories’ NDA Autofiction reading series, this book launch features readings from anthology contributors:
Aiden Arata is a writer and artist from Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in BOMB, The rumpus, The Fanzine, Hobart, and others. She writes the monthly-ish newsletter Under the Influence, about being extremely online during the heat death of the planet.
Chris Molnar is a Los Angeles-based writer, and founder and editorial director of Archway Editions, the literary imprint of powerHouse Books (distributed by Simon & Schuster) publishing authors like Ishmael Reed, Alice Notley, and Paul Schrader. In 2014 he co-founded the Writer’s Block, the first independent bookstore in Las Vegas.
Stephen Van Dyck is a Los Angeles, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico based writer and artist. He is the author of People I’ve Met From the Internet, and organizer of the Los Angeles Road Concerts.
Sammy Loren is a producer experienced in managing global commercial campaigns work: http://www.sammyloren.com. Clients: – Lyft – Facebook – Biden 2020. He is also a producer of films, such as Estuaries.
Sarah Sophia Yanni is a writer and educator from the San Fernando Valley. A Gemini and mixed-race daughter of immigrants, she is continuously interested in the hybrid self. Her work has been published by DREGINALD, feelings, Rivulet, and others, and she was a finalist for Bomb Magazine’s 2020 Poetry Contest. She holds an MFA from CalArts.
Molly Lambert is a writer from and in Los Angeles. She has written for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and GQ, and was a staff writer at the websites Grantland and MTV News. She hosts the podcast Molly’s Sleazy Friends and co-hosts Night Call.
Sara Selevitch is a nonfiction writer living in Los Angeles. She holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts.
Caitlin Forst is a writer and editor living and working in Los Angeles. Her work appears in The Nervous Breakdown, among other publications.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, further details, guidelines & information.
Where: Stories Books & Cafe
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Anansi Virtual Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event
The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. For general information and booking, contact V. Kali, the Anansi Writers Workshop Coordinator, at vkaliflowers@gmail.com.
- 7:30 pm–8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
- 8:30 pm–9:00 pm — Featured reader;
- 9:05 pm–10:00 pm — Open mic.
Suggested: $5.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.
NOTE: See site for further details, and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmial.com or call (323) 293-2451
Where: The World Stage
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm
Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008
Website: https://www.theworldstage.org/events.html
The Poetry Salon Workshop Weekly in Topanga Canyon by Corazon Performing Arts – In-Person Event
The Poetry Salon is a collaborative poetry current that meets every Weds minus the first of the month to delight in the spirit of creativity.
The Poetry Salon is a collaborative poetry current that meets7:30PM-9PM every Weds (minus the first Wed of the month) to delight in the spirit of creativity, wisdom, and the magic of poetry and prose. Kat, our host, will guide us through several poetry exercises where we will write together in class and share our work. We often combine, collaborate, and work the current together for surprises and delights. Beginners welcome and seasoned writers are encouraged. Each salon is unique.
Come to discover, come to play.
Let go of doing it “right” and let’s get writing.
Kat’s a poet and writer based in Topanga Canyon. She’s the co-founder of Redroom Collective, a community for female-identifying humans that holds monthly gatherings, interactive classes and experiences in magic(k), poetry, tantra, and more. She’s been writing for inspiring brands for 15 years. Poetry saved her life, and that’s why she shares it as much as she possibly can. She’s triply delighted to be sharing poetry at the beloved Corazόn.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, costs, and information.
Where: The Poetry Salon at Corazon Performing Arts
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm
Address: 125 South Topanga Canyon Boulevard Topanga, CA 90290
Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop at Beyond Baroque – Zoom Online
Join Beyond Baroque’s longest-running free poetry workshop via Zoom online as we welcome new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Facilitators are rotated quarterly, and the current facilitator is Jose Hernandez Diaz.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020). His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Boulevard, Colorado Review, Huizache, Iowa Review, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading Anthology 2011. He teaches creative writing online and edits for Frontier Poetry.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: Online event (see site)
Website: https://www.beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-fiction-workshop-tickets-477403164717
Poetry Reading & Open Mic by Two Idiots Peddling Poetry & A Surprise Feature at The Ugly Mug – In-Person Event
Join Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry at the Ugly Mug on Wednesday Night for our Reading & Open Mic, featuring A Surprise Feature.
The format is to welcome a featured poet for an individual reading, as well as an Open Mic reading. Tonight’s featured reader is A Surprise Guest.
$4 cover fee, cash only. Masks are required unless eating or drinking.
NOTE: See site for further details, guidelines & information.
Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA 92866
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Idiots-Peddling-Poetry/ or https://m.facebook.com/events/653118519638780?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%223%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=3&eav=AfYS_8UC14Ag-Se8ZratFmTevQuLpcbgguAnd3oYjSQOhl11FLQWnY3WjRaWmtNQOmY&paipv=0
Flight School Open Mic at Playground Hookah Lounge – In-Person Event
Flight School Open Mic is offered every Wednesday.
All arts are welcome: singing, dance, poetry, improv, comedy, music, and we learn to fly together, all balanced by host O. Smith and a full live band and DJ D-Major.
$10 entry at the door. $8 tickets at Eventbrite.
NOTE: Check site for further details, updates, and information.
Where: Flight School Open Mic at the Playground
Date: Wednesday the 7th
Time: 8 pm – 12 am
Address: 630 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood, CA 90302
Website: https://allevents.in/inglewood/flight-school-open-mic/10000362733093447
Kids Book Club & Concealed at Cellar Door Books – In-Person Kids Event
The Kids Book Club will discuss its monthly selection, Concealed, by Christina Diaz Gonzalez.
This book is a globe-spanning novel about identity, faith, family, and sexuality.
What if you had no name, no past, and no home?
Ivette. Joanna. And now: Katrina
Whatever her name is, it won’t last long. Katrina doesn’t know any of the details about her past, but she does know that she and her parents are part of the Witness Protection Program. Whenever her parents say they have to move on and start over, she takes on a new identity. A new name, a new hair color, a new story.
Until their location leaks and her parents disappear. Forced to embark on a dangerous rescue mission, Katrina and her new friend Parker set out to save her parents—and find out the truth about her secret past and the people that want her family dead.
Christina Diaz Gonzalez is the Edgar Award-winning author of Concealed, Moving Target, The Red Umbrella and A Thunderous Whisper. She is the author of the graphic novel Invisible, with Gabriela Epstein. Her books have received numerous honors and recognitions including the Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Cellar Door Books
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 4 pm
Address: 5225 Canyon Crest Dr., Riverside CA 92507
Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-concealed
Mystery Book Club & Turn of the Key at Venice Memorial Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event
The Mystery Book Club will discuss this month’s selection, Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware.
When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.
What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.
Email venice@lapl.org for Zoom login.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Venice – Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 5 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/cover-cover-book-club
Book Talk: John Ross Bowie, with Wil Wheaton, & No Job for a Man at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event
No Job For a Man is a darkly witty, deeply affecting, and finely crafted memoir by the Big Bang Theory and Speechless star and comedian, John Ross Bowie.
No Job for a Man follows John Ross Bowie journey as he tries to make it in the arts, meeting success and failure, wins and losses, despair and hope along the way. Though his father chronically refuses to acknowledge pride in his adult son’s accomplishments, John comes to his own idiosyncratic version of being a man.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS & INTERVIEWER:
John Ross Bowie is an American actor and comedian best known for playing Barry Kripke on The Big Bang Theory and Jimmy DiMeo on Speechless, in addition to over 100 film and TV credits
Wil Wheaton is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me, Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers, and Bennett Hoenicker in Flubber.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-no-job-for-a-man-tickets-476717513917
Celeste Ng & Our Missing Hearts at LA Times Book Club – Online YouTube Event
Celeste Ng, in conversation with Times columnist Patt Morrison, will discuss her new novel, Our Missing Hearts. Her previous novels are Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere.
In a virtual conversation about her latest bestseller, Our Missing Hearts. Ng’s compelling new novel is about a mother’s unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear, repression, and injustice
Reviewer Bethanne Patrick calls the book a “stunning” new dystopian novel. “The simplest way to put it without spoiling anything is to say that at the core of Ng’s narrative — a 12-year-old boy’s epic quest to find his missing mother — is the all-important question of how we communicate,” Patrick writes in The Times.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details
Where: LA Times Book Club
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Evelyn Alsultany & Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion at The Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Village Well presents Evelyn Alsultany to discuss her book, Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion:
In this book Alsultany argues that Muslims get included through “crisis diversity,” where high-profile Islamophobic incidents are urgently responded to and then ignored until the next crisis. In the popular cultural arena of television, this means interrogating even those representations of Muslims that others have celebrated as refreshingly positive. What kind of message does it send, for example, when a growing number of “good Muslims” on TV seem to have arrived there, ironically, only after leaving the faith? In the realm of corporations, she critically examines the firing of high-profile individuals for anti-Muslim speech—a remedy that rebrands corporations as anti-racist while institutional racism remains intact. At universities, Muslim students get included in diversity, equity, and inclusion plans but that gets disrupted if they are involved in Palestinian rights activism. Finally, she turns to hate crime laws revealing how they fail to address root causes. In each of these arenas, Alsultany finds an institutional pattern that defangs the promise of Muslim inclusion, deferring systemic change until and through the next “crisis.”
Evelyn Alsultany is a leading expert on the history of representations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. media. Her research, teaching, and lecturing are driven by a commitment to bringing Arab and Muslim Americans into the broader conversation about racial politics in the U.S. Professor Alsultany has served as an educator and consultant for Hollywood studios on how to better represent Muslim characters. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 6 pm – 7 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21415
Alex Kenna & What Meets the Eye: A Mystery at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Alex Kenna will present her book, What Meets the Eye: A Mystery.
This debut is a pulse-pounding tapestry of secrets, retribution, and greed for fans of Jeffrey Archer.
Kate Myles was a promising Los Angeles police detective, until an accident and opioid addiction blew up her family and destroyed her career. Struggling to rebuild her life, Kate decides to try her hand at private detective work—but she gets much more than she bargained for when she takes on the case of celebrated painter Margot Sterling, found dead in a downtown loft.
Margot died for her art—and if Kate doesn’t tread lightly, she could be the next to get brushed out.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Book Soup
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/alex-kenna
Race, Politic and Poetics Hosted By Writ Large Projects– In-Person Event
Race, Politics & Poetics: a reading feat. Tongo Eisen-Martin, Viva Padilla, Matt Sedillo and Alyesha Wise in conversation with Peter Woods.
Race, Politics and Poetics, is the latest live reading produced by Writ Large Projects featuring four of the most acclaimed poets who talk it like they walk it: Tongo Eisen-Martin, Viva Padilla, Matt Sedillo & Alyesha Wise. Poets will be presented in the round robin style with a discussion hosted by Writ Large Projects, Peter Woods.
The aim of this reading series is present the work of these titans, engage listeners around race relations in our City of Los Angeles (a timely matter, wouldn’t you say) and to discuss the role of poetry in shaping identity statements as well as building bridges between the Black and Brown Community. If anything, it should lead to self-reflection and further strengthen our communities by recognizing commonalities and shared struggles. Sharing our words and experiences to one another, not only allows for more awareness but helps to open doors to more complete and systemic understanding.
Where: Latino Theater Center in Downtown L.A.
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
Address: 514 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90013
Poetry Reading: Sofia Fey, Edwin Bodney, Taylor Byas & Lynne Thompson at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
This literary reading event is hosted by Anthony Aguero and presented in collaboration with Hooligan Mag.
Featured readers include:
Sofia Fey is a Lesbian and Non-Binary writer living in LA. Currently, they are the poetry editor at Hooligan Magazine, and the Founder of the Luminaries Poetry Workshop. Previously, they were a reader for Stone of Madness Press and Kissing Dynamite.
Edwin Bodney is an American slam poet and author of the book A Study of Hands (Not A Cult Press). Bodney is also one of the hosts of Da Poetry Lounge. Various of Bodney’s poems have been featured in Button Poetry.
Taylor Byas is a Black poet and essayist. Originally from Chicago, she moved to Alabama for six years, where she received both her Bachelor’s degree in English and her Master’s degree in English (Creative Writing concentration) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Taylor currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where she is a third year PhD student and Albert C. Yates Scholar at the University of Cincinnati studying poetry. She is also an Assistant Features Editor for The Rumpus.
Her chapbook, Bloodwarm, is out now from Variant Lit (2021). Her second chapbook, Shutter, is out from Madhouse Press (2022). Her debut full-length poetry collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times, is forthcoming from Soft Skull Press in the summer of 2023. She is also a coeditor of The Southern Poetry Anthology, Vol X: Alabama, forthcoming from Texas Review Press.
Lynne Thompson is the 2021-2022 Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles. The daughter of Caribbean immigrants, her poetry collections include Beg No Pardon (2007), winner of the Perugia Press Prize and the Great Lakes Colleges Association’s New Writers Award; Start With A Small Guitar (2013), from What Books Press; and Fretwork (2019), winner of the Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize. Thompson’s honors include the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award (poetry) and the Stephen Dunn Prize for Poetry as well as fellowships from the City of Los Angeles, Vermont Studio Center, and the Summer Literary Series in Kenya. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Poetry, Poem-A-Day (Academy of American Poets), New England Review, Colorado Review, Pleiades, Ecotone, and Best American Poetry, to name a few.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines & information.
Where: Stories Books & Cafe
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Praxinoscope PerformanceX “One of the Dozens” at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Praxinoscope presents “One of the Dozens”—the fourth and final installment in this ambitious quarterly event series—initiated in 2022—curating live, interdisciplinary, and group performances.
Each of the Praxinoscope events has featured a curated selection of 12 + artists performing or presenting short works — poetry, song, sound, performance art, video, comedy, plays and dance—each relating in its own unique way to a rotating central theme.
“One of the Dozens” is both a theme and a format for the next PerformX on December 8, 2022 at the renowned center for Los Angeles letters, Beyond Baroque.
For this next Praxinoscope event, we seek to present Duets. Duos. Twosomes. Two-Person Scenes. Pairs. Pas de Deux. Counterpoints. Opponents. Competitors. Antagonists. Debaters. Contestants.
Why “The Dozens”? Our inspiration for Duets in public performance arises from “The Dozens.”
The Dozens is a game played between two participants in front of an audience in which the participants insult or one-up each other in boasts and brags until one of them gives up.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Thursday the 8th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/praxinoscope-performancex-one-of-the-dozens-tickets-465249081527
Your Author Series: Lucky Cat at Central Library, LAPL – Online Kids Event
Authors Helen Wu-Wang and Janet Wang will present and talk about their latest book, Lucky Cat.
Lucky Cat is a heartwarming story about an immigrant family in America and a new friend their daughter June makes as they prepare to open their restaurant.
June’s family has a new home in America. There’s plenty to do before their restaurant opens, but Mama is excited when she finds the previous owners have left a Lucky Cat! It’s meant to bring good luck to their ventures, and June is even more excited the next evening when she finds that the statue can come to life. But unfortunately, Lucky Cat doesn’t seem that lucky. She has the best intentions, but she knocks over the vinegar bottle and rips holes in people’s clothing. Will she ever get anything right? Luckily, June learns that real luck is earned through hard work and perseverance as the family embarks on a new venture close to their hearts.
Streaming live on the library’s YouTube channel.
Those attending the virtual program will have an opportunity to win a free book.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Central Library, LAPL
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-series-lucky-cat
Rafael Augustin & Illegally Yours at Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Village Well presents Rafael Augustin to discuss his book, Illegally Yours.
In this book Rafael Augustin presents a funny and poignant memoir about how as a teenager, TV writer Agustin (Jane The Virgin) accidentally discovered he was undocumented and how that revelation turned everything he thought he knew about himself and his family upside down.
Rafael Agustin was a writer on the award-winning The CW show Jane the Virgin and is the author of the recently published comedic memoir, Illegally Yours. He serves as CEO of the Latino Film Institute (LFI) and sits on the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 5 pm – 6 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21053
Vroman’s Local Author Night: Kids/YA Edition with Christina Girton, Ken Bagnis, and Jessica Woo at Vroman’s – In-Person Event
Local children’s and YA local authors will present and discuss their books:
Christina Girton presents Veggie Nightmares.
Get ready to jump, climb, run and swim through Owen’s “nightmares” as he faces his fear of vegetables Owen does not like his veggies because anything that green can’t be good right? But these veggies start to show up in his dreams Owen finds his courage and discovers that vegetables can help him feel better and think clearly. Find out how he wins against his nightmares.
Ken Bagnis presents Break.
Seventeen-year-old Trey Barrow has lost everything-his home, his family, and possibly his mind. Pursued by a threat that only he can hear or see, it’s getting harder for Trey to decide which of his experiences is more terrifying: the “real” world, where he woke up restrained to a bed in a psychiatric hospital, or the “fantasy” world where he’s being hunted by a death-dealing shadow from the spirit realm.
Then he meets fellow patient Pearl Parker, a streetwise mystery who starts hospital riots for laughs. Pearl is the first and only person to believe in Trey’s looming threat, and she convinces him they need to escape. Now, before the fate of the entire world is lost.
Realizing he doesn’t have to face this nightmare alone, Trey follows Pearl down an endless road of infinite possibilities, hidden motives, an unintentional kidnapping, and not nearly enough snacks. But as their stolen car blazes a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style escape across the Southwestern US, the police and Trey’s dark visions are never far behind.
Jessica Woo presents What To Do About Your Monsters.
Meet Kinzie. She has a bunch of fun loving, slightly smelly, Monsters that live in her room. They never let her sleep at night. But that’s ok, her parents always help her out. Until one day they decide it’s time she learns to sleep on her own. What will Kinzie do about her Monsters?
What To Do About Your Monsters is a heartfelt story about a girl who has sleep issues. At its core, however, the story is not just about having problems sleeping, but about being afraid to try something new.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/local-author-day-december-9
Bodies, Borders & Tongues: Farnaz Fatemi, Lisa Ortiz & Leonora Simonovis at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
Farnaz Fatemi, Lisa Ortiz, & Leonora Simonovis will read from their latest collections: Sister Tongue (2021 Wick Poetry Prize), Stem (2021 Idaho Prize), and Study of the Raft (2021 Colorado Prize for Poetry).
Farnaz Fatemi, an Iranian American poet, editor & writing teacher, is a founding member of The Hive Poetry Collective in Santa Cruz, CA. Her book, Sister Tongue زبان خواهر, was published in September 2022. It won the 2021 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, selected by Tracy K. Smith, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly. Some of her work appears in Poem-a-Day (Poets.org), Nowruz Journal, and Tupelo Quarterly and the anthologies Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran and its Diaspora, and Halal If You Hear Me. More at farnazfatemi.com.
Lisa Allen Ortiz is the author of two poetry collections: Stem, winner of the 2021 Idaho Prize and Guide to the Exhibit, winner of the 2016 Perugia Press Prize. Her poems have appeared in Beloit Poetry Review, Colorado Review and The Literary Review. She is co-translator with Sara Rivera of The Blinding Star: Selected Poems of Blanca Varela which won the 2022 California Book Award for Poetry in Translation. She is co-founder and chair of the American Listening Project.
Leonora Simonovis is the author of Study of the Raft, winner of the 2021 Colorado Prize for Poetry and Honorable Mention recipient for the 2022 International Latino Book Awards. Her work has appeared in River Mouth Review, Verse Daily, Kweli Journal, Diode Poetry Journal, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and The Rumpus, among others. She has been the recipient of fellowships from Women Who Submit (WWS), VONA, and the Poetry Foundation. A Venezuelan American poet, Leonora grew up in Caracas, Venezuela and currently lives in San Diego, CA, where she teaches Latin American literature and creative writing in Spanish at the University of San Diego.
NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information.
Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Reyna Biddy & We Find Our Way at Book Soup – In-Person Event
Reyna Biddy will present her poetry collection, We Find Our Way. This book is focused on rebirth, ancestors, spirit, and so much more from the unique perspective and voice of a revered spoken-word poet, author, and self-love enthusiast.
We Find Our Way, the latest and third collection of poetry from creator Reyna Biddy, explores themes of love and dependency, both within ourselves and with the people we hold close. Biddy’s propensity for making readers feel welcomed, healed, and hopeful is evident in every poem; every sentence; every word she pens. The variety of writing styles—from short, thought-provoking pieces to longer, more lyrical versification—perfectly cradle Biddy’s unique thoughts on intimate topics like motherhood, childbirth, and sacrifice, and many of the other complexities life contains.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Book Soup
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/reyna-biddy
Z.R. Ellor & Acting the Part Book Launch at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice is hosting an in-person event to celebrate Acting the Part by Z. R. Ellor on December 3rd at 5pm PT. Z. R. will chat all about YA and queer romances with Foz Meadows!
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
Masks are strongly encouraged to browse the store and attend any event.
This delightfully tropey teen romance perfect for fans of Ashley Poston and Lyla Lee follows a queer teen actor navigating their gender identity—while pretending to date their co-star.
Queer actor Lily Ashton has found fame playing lesbian warrior Morgantha on the hit TV show Galaxy Spark. Lily knows how little representation queer girls have, so when the showrunners reveal that Morgantha’s on-screen love interest, Alietta, is going to be killed off, Lily orchestrates an elaborate fake-dating scheme with the standoffish actress who plays her, to generate press and ensure a happy ending for the #Morganetta ship.
But while playing a doting girlfriend on- and off-screen, Lily struggles with whether a word like “girl” applies to them at all.
Lily’s always been good at playing a part. But are they ready to share their real self, even if it means throwing everything they’ve fought for away?
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Friday the 9th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: Main Street & Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Social Justice Book Club: We Are Grateful at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids Event
Literature can transform the way we look at the world. Join children’s librarians from the Los Angeles Public Library to discuss kid-friendly books related to topics of social justice. This is an all-ages book club for the whole family. Participants of all ages are welcome.
We will be reading and discussing this month’s selection: We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell.
Email cquinn@lapl.org for the meeting link.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, and details.
Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 10 am
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/social-justice-book-club
Holiday Market & Guests at Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Village Well presents the annual Village Well Holiday Market! Featuring local vendors, authors, and artists, the event will take place in the Village Well Parking Area over two days, Saturday and Sunday.
Also, new to this year’s market will be relaxing live music, which you can enjoy while sipping on hot chocolate and munching down pastries and cookies!
So come on by and join us as we celebrate all winter Holidays, including Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Yule!
If you are interested in being a vendor, please email events@villagewell.com.
This event is free, no registration required!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 10th (Also on Sunday the 11th)
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21653
Indie Bookstore Field Trips #11 with Bel Canto Bookstore at Bookman and Conta Coffee + Tea in Orange – In-Person Event
Friends of Bel Canto who love to read, explore new neighborhoods, and visit local bookstores are invited to join Bel Canto’s Field Trip #11 to explore The Bookman and Contra Coffee + Tea in Orange, CA.
This is a free Saturday morning meetup at 1–2 bookstores in varying neighborhoods around SoCal. We’ll begin with free browsing time and end by circling up outside to introduce ourselves and share about any new books we bought or discovered. In certain months, we may even be given private tours by the bookshop owners, as well!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further details.
Where: The Bookman and Conta Coffee + Tea
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 320 East Katella Ave., Orange, CA 92867 and 115 N. Orange St., Orange, CA 92866
Book Brunch Celebration with Kevin Powell at Post & Beam – In-Person Event
Kevin Powell will present and celebrate his book, Grocery Shopping with My Mother, at a luncheon event at Post & Beam in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw.
Music by DJ Puffs, and food and drink available.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and further details.
Where: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 11 am – 3 pm
Address: 3767 Santa Rosalia Cr., Los Angeles CA
Antonio Gonzalez & Architects Who Built Southern California at Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL – Online Kids Event
Friends of the Library presents Architects Who Built Southern California. Join author Antonio Gonzalez as he discusses his book and tells the stories of the people behind some of Southern California’s most iconic buildings. He will be discussing architects such as Harrison Albright, John Austin, Hudson and Munsell, Julia Morgan, Morgan Walls and Clements, and others.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Canoga Park Branch Library, LAPL
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 1 pm – 2 pm
Address: 20939 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA 91303
Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/architects-who-built-southern-california
Finger Popping Joy: Remembering Linda J. Albertino at Beyond Baroque – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
This event is a special tribute to the incomparable poet, performance artist, and musician, Linda J. Albertano. Join us in paying tribute to her life and work with an afternoon of readings, performances, and remembrances.
Featured speakers and artists include Frank Lutz, Amelie Frank, John Fleck, S.A. Griffin, Philip Littell, The Dark Bob, Tequila Mockingbird, Anna Homler with bass player, Jeff Schwartz, Laurel Ann Bogen, and others TBA. 1 o’clock arrival, performances 1:30 p.m. Hosted by Suzanne Lummis.
This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are required while inside our center.
Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.
If you can’t join us in-person the event will be live streamed on Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel at the scheduled time of the event.
Please RSVP if you are planning to attend this event. We accept walk-ins, but priority will be given to people that have registered. Limited seating is available; we recommend arriving early.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, link, free tickets, and details
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 1 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finger-popping-joy-remembering-linda-j-albertano-tickets-470823193847
Victoria Buitron & A Body Across Two Hemispheres at LibroMobile – Online IG Event
Victoria Buitron will virtually present and discuss her new book, A Body Across Two Hemispheres.
In this electrifying debut, Victoria Buitron comes of age between Ecuador and the United States as she explores her ancestry, learns two languages, and searches for a place she can call home. It portrays not only the immigrant experience, but the often-overlooked repatriate experience while interweaving facets of depression, family history, and self-love. With the utmost honesty, A Body Across Two Hemispheres encompasses the deep and complex layers of teenage life into adulthood—and the sacrifices made along the way for Victoria to become who she was meant to be all along.
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3 pm – 4 pm
Address: Online Event (see site)
Website: https://www.libromobile.com/event-details/a-body-across-two-hemispheres-by-victoria-buitron
Saturday Afternoon Poetry: Deep Critique Writing Workshop with G.T. Foster – Online Only Event
Saturday Afternoon Poetry presents a Deep Critique Poetry Writing Workshop with G.T. Foster.
All events are curated by Don Kingfisher Campbell.
Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: Online Zoom Event Only (see site)
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
The Last Magic Words Left: Profanity and Its Power in our Lives and Writing with PW Covington at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
This one-hour workshop will encourage participants to examine and explore their emotions and feelings surrounding the last “magic words” left in society, the true “power words,” the dangerous words, the words we have been told are “dirty,” “offensive,” or “prohibited.
In the tradition of Beat writers like Diane di Prima, William Burroughs, and Michael McClure, we will examine how the definition of “obscenity” and writers’ reaction to and use of it loomed large on the cultural landscape of the 20th Century. While we may seem to live in more liberated and tolerant times, the cultural war is anything but “cold” and words remain both potent weapons and medicine.
How we use them will determine what shape our shared culture will assume.
Words considered obscene or profane have a natural aura of power, oppression, and even a sort of “magic” about them, being culturally forbidden or at least frowned upon. They are used as invocations, supplications, or expressions of ecstasy or anguish. Overuse strips them of this incantory and arcane power.
Participants will collaborate both to define and collect examples contemporary “magic” words, in both cultural and individual contexts. We will foster a safe, tolerant, and encouraging space, as we each reclaim ownership and intention surrounding words that we use and have had used against us to objectify, demean, or judge.
By collecting and capturing these power-words, and thinking about how best to use or exclude them from our writing, we can strip them of their power to destroy, while still being able to appreciate and understand the power the hold and can add, when effectively used.
Opportunity for collaborative discussion and presentation of creative work will exist.
About PW Covington:
PW Covington is a widely published Indie writer and poet, that travels extensively performing live readings and conducting creative workshops.
He is the author of 5 full length poetry collections, a novel, and a non-fiction book focusing on PTSD recovery through creative writing.
His work has been published by University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, South Texas College, Our Lady of the Lake University, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Covington has been featured as an invited reader at the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival (McAllen, TX), The Havana International Poetry Festival (Cuba), and The Beat Museum in San Francisco, CA.
In 2019, his collection of erotica and short fiction, North Beach and Other Stories was named an LGBTQ Fiction Finalist by the International Book Awards.
A multiple Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, PW Covington is a 100% service connected disabled veteran, and lives in northern New Mexico, two blocks off of historic Route 66.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, tickets, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm PT
Address: 2702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Alexandra Overy & This Cursed Crown Book Launch at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice is hosting an in-person event to celebrate This Cursed Crown by Alexandra Overy. She. will chat with Raquel Marie all about YA fantasy and queer romances!
In the explosive sequel to These Feathered Flames, twin sisters Izaveta and Asya find themselves separated once again, but discovering a way back to each other may be their most perilous challenge yet.
Awakening to find herself trapped in a strange tower, Izaveta knows she must find her way back to the Turensi palace and claim the throne. But even with an unexpected ally’s help, she worries she might not be able to get news of her survival to her sister and escape this frozen land.
Back at home, Asya enlists Nikov’s help to prove Izaveta is still alive, even as she finds herself forced to navigate the political world she always sought to avoid to save her queendom, her loved ones, and herself.
But as the sisters work independently to reunite, a dangerous force lies in wait, trying to regain power in order to overthrow the monarchy…
NOTE: There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
Masks are strongly encouraged to browse the store and attend any event.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: Main Street & Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Second Sunday Poetry Series & Open Mic with Alex M. Frankel & Featured Guest Clint Margrave at The Studio Theatre at St, Denis Building – In-Person Event
The Second Sunday Series is hosted by Alex M. Frankel and here great poets perform their work, sell and sign books, plus mingle with audience members and open mic participants.
This month’s feature is Clint Margrave, who is the author of several books of fiction and poetry, including Lying Bastard, Salute the Wreckage, The Early Death of Men, and most recently, Visitor. His work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Rattle, The Moth, Ambit, and Los Angeles Review of Books, among others.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and event details.
Where: The Studio Theatre at St. Denis Building
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 5 pm – 7 pm
Address: 3433 Cahuenga Blvd. West, 1st Floor. Los Angeles, CA 90068 (near Universal Studios)
Website: https://www.secondsundaypoetry.com/index.html
Special Holiday Storytime with Mr. Steve at Vroman’s – In-Person Kids Event
Vroman’s will host a special evening Holiday themed storytime for children with Mr. Steve. Feel free to come dressed in something comfy and/or holiday themed! Treats and beverages will be provided.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details
Where: Vroman’s
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 6 pm
Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101
Website: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/holiday-storytime-with-mr-steve
Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J.S. Davies & War In Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict at Village Well Books & Coffee– In-Person Event
Russia’s brutal February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has attracted widespread condemnation across the West. Government and media circles present the conflict as a simple dichotomy between an evil empire and an innocent victim. In this concise, accessible and highly informative primer, Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies insist the picture is more complicated.
Yes, Russia’s aggression was reckless and, ultimately, indefensible. But the West’s reneging on promises to halt eastward expansion of NATO in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union played a major part in prompting Putin to act. So did the U.S. involvement in the 2014 Ukraine coup and Ukraine’s failure to implement the Minsk peace agreements. The result is a conflict that is increasingly difficult to resolve, one that could conceivably escalate into all-out war between the United States and Russia—the world’s two leading nuclear powers.
Skillfully bringing together the historical record and current analysis, War in Ukraine looks at the events leading up to the conflict, surveys the different parties involved, and weighs the risks of escalation and opportunities for peace. For anyone who wants to get beneath the heavily propagandized media coverage to an understanding of a war with consequences that could prove cataclysmic, reading this timely book will be an urgent necessity.
Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK. She is also co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange, the Peace in Ukraine Coalition, Unfreeze Afghanistan (which advocates for returning the $7 billion of Afghan funds frozen in U.S. banks), ACERE: The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect, and the Nobel Peace Prize for Cuban Doctors Campaign.
Medea has been an advocate for social justice for 50 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed—and most effective—fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and “one of the high-profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide.
She is the author of ten books, including Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection, and Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her most recent book, coauthored with Nicolas J.S. Davies, is War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21520
Pathetic Literature: with hosts Tom Cole & Eileen Myles at The Poetic Research Bureau – In-Person Event
This event is a group reading and book launch for the new poetry anthology Pathetic Literature, edited by Eileen Myles, from Grove Atlantic press.
Readers fir this event include: Eileen Myles, Dodie Bellamy, Tom Cole, Mira Gonzalez, Porochista Khakpour, Chris Kraus, Maggie Nelson, Ariana Reines, Mark So, Michelle Tea, Julie Tolentino, Frank Wilderson and others.
Eileen Myles (they/them) is a poet, novelist and art journalist whose practice of vernacular first-person writing has become a touchstone for the identity-fluid internet age. Pathetic Literature, which they edited is out in November. They live in New York and Marfa, TX.
Dodie Bellamy is a novelist, poet, and essayist, has published many books and a handful of chapbooks, and specializes in genre-bending work that focuses on feminism, sexuality, cultural artifacts both high and low, and all things queer. Bellamy champions the vulnerable, the fractured, the disenfranchized, the fucked-up, and believes the spiritual and the political can be found in the most unlikely places. She loves the essay as a form and feels it can encompass everything; it’s the closest prose can get to poetry without mimicking it. In 2018-19 she was the subject of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art’s On Our Mind program, a year-long series of public events, commissioned essays, and reading group meetings inspired by an artist’s writing and lifework. As part of this season, the Wattis sponsored a year of Mirage/Period[ical], the monthly Xeroxed zine published with her husband Kevin Killian published 155 issues of between 1992 and 2009. Charles Bernstein once said that Mirage/Period[ical] represented the absolute low end of high art. They take that as a compliment.
Tom Cole has visited the planet’s near- and far-flung corners for many years, leading treks and exotic tours and writing for an adventure travel company. He is currently a Respected Elder at one of the world’s great safari companies. He lives in the Northern California Wine Country with his wife, Mary Marenka Poxon. Cole is the author of A Short history of San Francisco.
Mira Gonzalez published her first poetry collection, i will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together, in 2013. It was a finalist for The Believer Poetry Award. In 2015, she released a collaborative book with Tao Lin called Selected Tweets, which is what it was, among other things. Mira’s mother is the artist Lora Norton, and her stepfather is Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski. She’s very good at Twitter.
Porochista Khakpour was born in Tehran and raised in the Greater Los Angeles area. Her debut novel Sons and Other Flammable Objects (Grove/Atlantic, 2007) was a New York Times “Editor’s Choice,” Chicago Tribune “Fall’s Best,” and 2007 California Book Award winner. It also made the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing shortlist, the Dylan Thomas Prize long list, the Believer Book Award longlist, and many others.
Her second novel, The Last Illusion (Bloomsbury, 2014) was a Kirkus Best Book of 2014, a Buzzfeed Best Fiction Book of 2014, an NPR Best Book of 2014, one of Buzzfeed’s 28 Best Books By Women in 2014, an Electric Literature Best Book of 2014, among many other awards. Her may other writings (essays, features, reviews, cover stories, and columns) have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler, The Daily Beast, The Village Voice, The Chicago Reader, Bookforum, BOMB, Al Jazeera America, Vice, GQ, The Paris Review Daily, Elle, Spin, Slate, Salon, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Guernica, Departures, Paper, Flaunt, Nylon, Bidoun, Alef, Canteen, Granta.com, Newyorker.com, and many other magazines and newspapers around the world.
Chris Kraus is a Los Angeles–based writer, art critic, and editor whose novels include I Love Dick (1997), Torpor (2006), and Summer of Hate (2012). Her writing navigates and mediates seamlessly between autobiography, fiction, philosophy, and art criticism. She teaches creative writing and art writing at The European Graduate School / EGS and has been a visiting professor at the Art Center College of Design, the University of California at San Diego, New York University, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Los Angeles Contemporary Archives. Along with Sylvère Lotringer and Hedi El Kholti, Kraus is coeditor of the influential publishing house Semiotext(e), which has introduced much of contemporary French theory to an American audience.
Maggie Nelson is a poet, scholar, and nonfiction writer whose work is often described as genre crossing or hybrid; she has noted her interest in poet Eileen Myles’s idea of “vernacular scholarship,” adding, “I need to talk back, or talk with, theorists and philosophers in ordinary language, to dramatize how much their ideas matter to me in my everyday life.” Nelson’s book Bluets (2009) is perhaps her most well-known work mix of scholarship and poetry. Her other collections of poetry include Something Bright, Then Holes (2007), Jane: A Murder (2005), The Latest Winter (2003), and Shiner (2001), which was a finalist for a Norma Farber First Book Award. She is the author of an account of sexual violence and the media, The Red Parts: A Memoir (2007), and a critical work on the New York School poets, Women, the New York School, and Other True Abstractions (2007), which won a Susanne M. Glassock Award for Interdisciplinary Scholarship. Her critical study of aesthetics and cruelty, The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning (2011), was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her genre-bending memoir The Argonauts (2015) was a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award.
Ariana Reines is an award-winning poet, Obie-winning playwright, performing artist and translator. Her books include: A Sand Book (2019), winner of the 2020 Kingsley Tufts Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award, Other book include: The Cow (2006), Coeur de Lion (2007), and Mercury (2011), The Origin of the World (2014). Her play Telephone (2009) was performed and published in Norwegian translation, among others. She has had numerous other exhibitions, performances, and collaborations in the various arts.
Mark So grew up in Syracuse and lives in Los Angeles. His varied output includes numerous scores, tapes, and ephemera—some 300 pieces alone involve John Ashbery’s poems. He has given many notable solo and ensemble performances of experimental music, and has worked with a range of artists on collaborative projects, often resulting in work that occupies a unique genre all its own. In 2014 he started DEATH-SPIRAL, a publishing initiative which has thus far released three titles: Dark Interiors/Places of the Heart, a cassette of So’s music for tape; New complaints. New rewards, a book & DVD by Stuart Krimko and Mark So; and Immaterial, a collection of text compositions by Jason Thomas.
Michelle Tea is the author of over a dozen books, including the cult-classic Valencia, the essay collection Against Memoir, and the speculative memoir Black Wave. She is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim, Lambda Literary, and Rona Jaffe Foundations, PEN/America, and other institutions. Knocking Myself Up is her latest memoir. Tea’s cultural interventions include brainstorming the international phenomenon Drag Queen Story Hour, co-creating the Sister Spit queer literary performance tours, and occupying the role of Founding Director at RADAR Productions, a Bay Area literary organization, for over a decade, among others
Julie Tolentino (she/they interchangeably) is a Filipina-Salvadorean artist whose performance/installation practice explores the interstitial spaces of race, gender, relationality, and the archive. Expanding notions of durational, erotic practices, site, and movement, their collaborative projects include performance, installation, video, devised objects, scent, soundscapes, and texts drawn from essential outside learning spaces of activism, alterity, advocacy, loss, and caregiving.
Frank Wilderson is a writer and scholar, and the author of books including: Incognegro: a Memoir of Exile and Apartheid (Duke University Press, [2008] 2015), Red, White, & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms (Duke University Press, 2010), and Afropessimism (Liveright, 2020). Novelist Ishmael Reed called Incognegro “an important contribution to the African and African American canons and a rare American work that bridges two cultures [Black American and Black South African].”
Come have a drink at the bar, buy a book, and settle into the theater for a free public reading and celebration of this exciting new collection.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, link, tickets, and details.
Where: The Poetic Research Bureau
Date: Saturday the 10th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057
Website: https://www.poeticresearch.com/events/pathetic-literature
826LA @Hemmer: Self-Care for Kids Writing Workshop at Hammer Museum – In-Person Kids Event
Professional speaker, trauma-informed trainer, performer, and writer Maia Akiva leads a workshop using creative writing exercises to get to know our emotional selves and address emotional challenges.
Recommended for ages 9–18.
Academic Programs at the Hammer Museum are supported by The Hearst Foundations and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation.
Hammer Kids is made possible through the generosity of the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation, with additional funding from The Winnick Family Foundation. Hammer Kids also receives support from friends of the Hammer Museum’s Kids’ Art Museum Project (K.A.M.P.), an annual family fundraiser.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Hammer Museum
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 11 am – 1 pm
Address: 10899 Wilshrie Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: https://hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2022/826lahammer-self-care-kids
#FLDAOS Book Release Celebration at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event
In light of our newly published book “F*#! Low Days!” And Other Sentiments, we invite you to celebrate with us as we stand with women everywhere who have dominated depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
All contributors to this project are women who have given their voice, their experiences, their talent, and their beautiful faces to bring light to what life is like outside of struggling with being happy, being in peace, and the will to live. Supporting our book #FLDAOS is standing with your sister, mother, friend, or lover who may need a pick-me-up from people like her who have found themselves on the other side of the dark places that make us feel low. Bring your favorite lady out for a colorful, fun night or stream the event live! Either way we’d love to have you!
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, link, guidelines, and details.
Where: Sims Library of Poetry
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 1 pm – 4 pm
Address: 3702 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90043
Website: https://app.gopassage.com/events/fldaos-release
Readings at Sunset ~ An Evening of Queer Poetry
Cuties Los Angeles Presents Readings at Sunset: A Queer Poetry Night. It’s their last monthly poetry night of the year.
If you’d like to read, you don’t need to purchase a ticket! Click here to sign up!
Join Cuties for a lovely evening showcasing 20+ local poets in the LGBTQIA+ community outside at The Plant Chica!
Doors open at 3:00 pm and poetry will begin promptly at 3:45 pm! Please arrive early to grab a seat, order food, check out the plants & meet other Cuties! Dear Mama LA will be selling yummy vegan Mexican food and aguas frescas.
Where: The Plant Chica
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 4522 West Jefferson Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90016
Beatnik Café Poetry Night & Open Mic: Matt Feinstein & Terri Niccum, with Hannah Pachman at Hey Hey – In-Person Event
Beatnik Cafe presents another night of truth and perspective, presented by host Hannah Pachman.
Matthew Feinstein is a neurodivergent poet from Tracy, California. He holds a BA in English – Creative Writing from CSU Long Beach and is currently an MFA candidate at Randolph College. His poems have appeared, or are forthcoming in, Poetry Online, HAD, Heavy Feather Review, Inflectionist Review, Kissing Dynamite, and elsewhere. He is a poetry reader for Revolute and is the founding editor of Plum Recruit. He is the author of Breeds of Breath (Alien Buddha Press, 2020).
Terri Niccum’s full-length collection, The Knife Thrower’s Daughter, was released in June from Moon Tide Press. She is also the author of the chapbooks Dead Letter Box (Moon Tide Press) and Looking Snow in the Eye (Finishing Line Press). Niccum was a finalist and runner-up for the 2020-2021 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize and a semi-finalist in the 2021 Knightville Poetry Contest.
3:50-4 pm – Open Mic Sign Up
4 pm – 4:10 pm – Intro
4:10 pm – 4:30 pm – Matt Feinstein Reading
4:30 pm – 4:50 pm – Terri Niccum Reading
4:50 pm – 5:50 pm – Poetry Open Mic (3 minutes per poet)
5:50 pm – 6 pm – Close
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Beatnik Café at Hey Hey
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: 1555 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://allevents.in/mobile/amp-event.php?event_id=200023700253738
Cowboy Conversations and Love in the Time of Yeehaw Panel at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Ripped Bodice is hosting a Cowboy Conversations and Love in the time of Yeehaw author panel with Sabrina Sol, Rebekah Weatherspoon, and Robin Bielman, who will chat all about their cowboy romances!
The authors will present and discuss:
Second Chance at Rancho Lindo by Sabrina Sol;
Cowboys of California series by Rebekah Weatherspoon;
The Matchmaker and the Cowboy by Robin Bielman.
There will be a book signing to follow. This event is free to attend and tickets are not required, however, we do appreciate RSVPs when possible!
Masks are strongly encouraged to browse the store and attend any event.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 6 pm
Address: Main Street & Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Fiction As Nourishment: Kim Fay, with Barbara Hansen, & Love and Saffron at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event
Kim Fay, in conversation with food writer Barbara Hansen, will present and discuss her book Love and Saffron.
When young L.A food writer Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter to established magazine columnist Imogen Fortier in the Pacific Northwest, their journey of culinary exploration and soul-deep friendship begins. Through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of JFK, and their own moments of sadness and joy, the two women write to one another, and through their correspondence, Love & Saffron shows how food and love can sustain us during our darkest hours.
Kim Fay is the author of the national bestselling Love & Saffron and The Map of Lost Memories, an Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel. She has also written a food memoir, Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam. She is from Seattle and lives in L.A. with her husband, Jim, and their dog, Mabel.
Barbara Hansen has been chronicling the diverse world of culinary Los Angeles. She was among the first to champion the city’s international foods, writing about Israeli consul dinners, kosher caterers, L.A. soul food, and the cuisines of Egypt, Haiti, the Philippines, Columbia, Portugal, Nicaragua, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Honduras—all with recipes. As a staff writer at the L.A. Times, she created the “Border Line” food column in 1974. For more than a decade, she chronicled L.A.’s Mexican food scene. Her writing is credited with forwarding the careers of local celebrity chefs such as Bill Esparza and Jet Tila. A James Beard Award winner, Hansen has written five best-selling cookbooks.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: Village Well Books & Coffee
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: 9900 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://shop.villagewell.com/events/21511
Library Girl & Roar Shack Celebration at Sims Library of Poetry – In-Person Event
Susan Hayden (Library Girl events) + David Rocklin (Roar Shack events) present their Annual Last Show of the Year! It features poetry and music and snacks in a year-end celebration.
Featuring Readings by:
Shonda Buchanan is a daughter of Mixed bloods, a USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow and a Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellow, Shonda Buchanan is the author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian. Shonda received an MFA from Antioch University and a MA and BA in English from Loyola Marymount University where she is a Senior Lecturer. In addition to her work as a literary activist, a teaching artist and a mentor for young writers, she serves as president of the Board of Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center and teaches in the Alma University MFA program in creative writing.
Darrell Larson is an actor, director, poet and writer. Larson is the creator and producer of the MET’s Great Writers Series, a weekly reading of fiction by authors William Styron, Denis Johnson, James Ellroy, James Shapiro and Peter Matthiessen, and actors Paul Winfield, Amy Madigan, Arliss Howard, Alfre Woodard among countless others. The series is broadcast on NPR. As co-director of The Poetry Society of America, Larson has also produced monthly poetry readings at the Chateau Marmont featuring an actor and a poet: James Merrill with Tim Curry, Amy Gerstler with Michael Ontkean, Galway Kinnell with Dana Delany, and Sharon Olds with himself.
Matt Sedillo has been described as the “best political poet in America” as well as “the poet laureate of the struggle” by academics, poets, and journalists alike. He has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge, among many others. He is the author of Mowing Leaves of Grass (Flowersong Press, 2019), and has been described as the “best political poet in America” as well as “the poet laureate of the struggle” by academics, poets, and journalists alike. He has appeared on CSPAN and has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He has spoken at Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, at numerous conferences and forums such as the National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education, and at over a hundred universities and colleges, including the University of Cambridge, among many others. He is the current literary director of the Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, and author of Mowing Leaves of Grass (Flowersong Press, 2019) and City on the Second Floor (2021). His work is being taught at California State University at Northridge and Monterey Bay, as well as at Mission College, UCLA, and Occidental College.
Amber West is a writer, educator, and theater maker originally from California with roots in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Her writing has appeared in journals and anthologies such as Calyx, Puppetry International, The Feminist Wire, Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge, Furies: A Poetry Anthology of Women Warriors, and The Routledge Companion to Puppetry & Material Performance. Her poetry chapbook, Daughter Eraser, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2015, and her “puppet poems” have been performed nationally. West earned her BA in Literature/Creative Writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz, MFA in Creative Writing at New York University, and PhD in English at University of Connecticut. She is co-founder and director of the artist collective, Alphabet Arts, for whom she created and directed the Puppets & Poets festival in NYC from 2011-2015. Her full-length poetry collection, Hen & God, was published by The Word Works in 2017 and described by the Washington Independent Review of Books as “out of the ordinary writing.” She teaches writing at University of California, Los Angeles and lives in North Hollywood with her husband, actor Sam T. West, and their son.
Aruni Wijesinghe is a project manager, ESL teacher, erstwhile belly dance instructor and occasional sous chef; she now, strangely, adds poet to this list. A Pushcart Prize-nominated poet, her poetry has been published both nationally and internationally. Her debut poetry collection, 2 Revere Place, is a love letter to her family and miraculous childhood in New York and is available now through Moon Tide Press and elsewhere. Her second book, The Litany of Missing, is forthcoming form Arroyo Seco Press. You can follow her work at www.aruniwrites.com
Featuring a Set of Music by celebrated LA singer/songwriter Dan Navarro!
$20 admission includes dessert + free parking. Get your tickets NOW at ruskingrouptheatre.com. CLICK ON “SEE A SHOW” to find link to Library Girl. Library Girl is now in its 14th year! Created, curated + produced the 2nd Sunday of every month by Susan Hayden.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, tickets, guidelines, and details.
Where: Ruskin Group Theatre
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Address: 3000 Airport Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/829871104877098?ref=newsfeed or
NDA Presents A Night of New Music Writing at Stories Books & Café – In-Person Event
NDA presents a night of new music writing in anticipation of an upcoming music magazine. Featuring Christopher Owens (formerly of the band Girls), Heather Jewett (of Gravy Train!!!!), z.No scott., Julia Lans Nowak, Parker Love Bowling and Dylan Tuppert Rupert.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines & information.
Where: Stories Books & Cafe
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Website: https://storiesla.com/events
Fantasy Romance Book Club & Under a Winter Sky Anthology at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event
The Fantasy Romance Book Clun meets at The Ripped Bodice every 2nd Sunday of the month, and today participants will discuss Under a Winter Sky: a Midwinter Holiday Anthology.
NOTE: See site for RSVP, guidelines, and details.
Where: The Ripped Bodice Bookstore
Date: Sunday the 11th
Time: 7:15 pm
Address: Main Street & Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90323
Website: https://www.therippedbodicela.com/events-and-tickets
Los Angeles Literature 